Bread & Butter Green Cherry Tomato Pickles

Jackie Gordon

Condiments & Canning

The end of the harvest of 2013, I had what seemed like a zillion green cherry tomatoes that I “put up”. Since I love bread and butter pickles made from cucumbers I figured green cherry tomatoes would be a treat ‘bread and buttered”.

Ingredients

3 pounds of green cherry tomatoes

1 pound of sweet onions, sliced thin

1 large red pepper, sliced thin

1/4 cup kosher salt

Ice cubes

2 cups light brown sugar or granulated sugar

3 cups apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon celery seeds

2 teaspoon dill seeds

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon allspice berries

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Directions

Wash and drain the cherry tomatoes. With a toothpick, poke six holes in each cherry tomato.

Mix cherry tomatoes, onions and red pepper and salt in a large bowl. Cover with two trays of ice cubes. Set in the refrigerator for four hours or overnight.

The next day, drain off the liquid in the bowl. Rinse the vegetables under cold running water and drain well.

Combine sugar, vinegar, turmeric, mustard seeds, celery seeds, dill seeds, crushed red pepper flakes in a large pot. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Add drained vegetables to the pot. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. With a slotted spoon pack vegetables into hot sterilized jars. Place pot of brine back on the stove at a simmer. Add three black peppercorns and two allspice berries to each jar.

Pour hot brine over the veggies in each jar leaving about 1/2 inch space between the vegetables and the lid of the jar. Place flat lids on each jar. Screw on bands to seal, but don’t over tighten them.

Arrange jars right side up in a canner and add water so it’s at least one inch above the jars. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for ten minutes.

Cool jars on rack. Store in cool place for at least 3 weeks before eating.

Total time: 1 hr 15 min

Yield: Makes 5 pints.

Notes

I used Vidalia onions. I’m sure you could use sliced or quartered green tomatoes for this recipes as well, if you don’t have a windfall of cherry tomatoes.

Recipes

I’ve been cooking since I could peel a carrot and think about food pretty much all the time. People ask me what my favorite food is and I have NO IDEA. The one thing I do know is I cook to make people smile. Enjoy my recipes.